Florida Gators
Desert Mountain Intercollegiate
Florida Improves to Second Place at Desert Mountain Intercollegiate
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Men's Golf
After a slow opening-round start at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate on Friday, the University of Florida men's golf team followed up by improving 17 strokes in Round 2 to lift the team into second place entering the final round.
The Gators' 3-under 285 in the second round marked the best round by any of the 12 teams in the tournament on Friday.
After Florida combined for a 14-over 302 in the morning, three Gators recorded eagles and every golfer in the lineup improved his score in the second round. The afternoon efforts culminated in an 11-over 587 for the day and helped UF climb four spots up the leaderboard.
J.D. Tomlinson shot rounds of 72 and 71 to claim a share of fourth. Joining him in the top 10 were A.J. Crouch and Ryan Celano. Crouch recorded a 76 in the opening round before firing a 69 in the afternoon to finish the day at 1-over 145. Playing as an individual, Celano posted two consistent rounds of 73 to total +2 (146).
Alejandro Tosti and Ryan Orr broke into the top 25, as Tosti's 5-over 149 tied for 18th and Orr's 7-over 151 was good for a share of 24th.
Oregon leads Florida by four strokes with a 7-over 583, and the Ducks' Aaron Wise is the leader in the individual competition with a 6-under 138.
The Gators return to the Desert Mountain Outlaw Course for Saturday's final round. Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. MST.
Head Coach JC Deacon:
On the team's performance Friday:
“It was super windy and pretty cold in the morning. We didn't get off to a great start. It kind of got away from us in that morning round, and we got ourselves way behind the field. That was probably the worst I've seen us play in a long time, and it was tough, but the guys rebounded in the afternoon. We put up an under-par round, we shot 3-under and we have a chance to win tomorrow. That's where we want to be.”
On the Gators' focus entering the final round:
“We talked a little bit about the last time that the Florida Gator men's golf program won and that it was way too long ago. I think we're going to see a group of fired up, determined young men tomorrow morning, and I think we're going to be ready to go.”
The Orange and Blue Crew:
| Desert Mountain Intercollegiate – Florida Players after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Player | Score |
| T4. | -1 (72-71-143) | |
| T8. | +1 (76-69-145) | |
| T10. | +2 (73-73-146) | |
| T18. | +5 (77-72-149) | |
| T24. | +7 (77-74-151) | |
| T37. | +10 (80-74-154) | |
*Denotes playing as an individual
Tournament Field Results:
| Desert Mountain Intercollegiate – Team Scores after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1. | Oregon | +7 (297-286-583) |
| 2. | FLORIDA | +11 (302-285-587) |
| 3. | Michigan | +12 (297-291-588) |
| 4. | Purdue | +14 (300-290-590) |
| 5. | St. Mary's | +15 (293-298-591) |
| 6. | San Francisco | +23 (303-296-599) |
| 7. | Ohio State | +26 (296-306-602) |
| 8. | Marquette | +38 (302-312-614) |
| 9. | Nebraska | +40 (307-309-616) |
| 10. | St. John's | +43 (312-307-619) |
| 11. | Toledo | +60 (323-313-636) |
| Desert Mountain Intercollegiate – Individual Top 10 after Round 2 | ||
| Place | Player (School) | Score |
| 1. | Aaron Wise (Oregon) | -6 (69-69-138) |
| T2. | Seb Crookall-Nixon (San Francisco) | -4 (69-71-140) |
| T2. | Thomas Lim (Oregon) | -4 (74-66-140) |
| T4. | Austin Eoff (Purdue) | -1 (73-70-143) |
| T4. | J.D. Tomlinson (FLORIDA) | -1 (72-71-143) |
| T6. | Obe Ayton (St. John's) | E (73-71-144) |
| T6. | Chris O'Neill (Michigan) | E (72-72-144) |
| T8. | Kyle Mueller (Michigan) | +1 (75-70-145) |
| T8. | A.J. Crouch (FLORIDA) | +1 (76-69-145) |
| T10. | Jonathan De Los Reye (St. Mary's) | +2 (70-76-146) |
| T10. | Pavan Sagoo (St. Mary's) | +2 (73-73-146) |
| T10. | Ryan Celano (FLORIDA) | +2 (73-73-146) |
| T10. | Zach Gaugert (Marquette) | +2 (74-72-146) |
Follow the Gators: Play will continue Saturday with the third and final round of the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate at the Desert Mountain Outlaw Course, where tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. MST. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with full results will be posted on GatorZone.com following the day's play.
For complete coverage of the Gators' men's golf program, visit GatorZone.com, follow @GatorZoneGolf on Twitter and 'like' the University of Florida Men's Golf page on Facebook.
